As PPP workers held prayer events in the twin cities, vendors used the opportunity to make a quick buck. PHOTOS: WASEEM NAZIR, ZAFAR ASLAM/EXPRESS
The gathering caused a traffic jam in the city.At the memorial site outside Liaquat Bagh, where the former premier was assassinated on December 27, 2007, two separate events were organised by two factions of the party in the garrison city.
Speaking on the occasion, PPP City President Amir Fida Paracha said that party workers in Rawalpindi had been waiting on directions from PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to launch a protest against the incumbent government. He reiterated the resolve that party workers were with Zardari against the victimisation policy of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.
Other local leaders of the PPP in their speeches criticised the federal government for its policies and said that they would welcome the call from their patron for a protest march against the government.
Local PPP leaders also eulogised slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as a great leader and said that they would follow her ideology in their political endeavours.
Raja Imran Ashraf, brother of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, also attended the gathering. Other local leaders of the PPP attending the gathering included Babar Jadoon, Chaudhry Benaris, Khalid Nawaz alias Bobby, Sheikh Hameed, Raja Altaf, and Nasir Mir.
Earlier in the day, workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, led by Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi, held a gathering at the memorial site.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Malik Mazhar, the central media coordinator of the party, said that around 100 workers gathered outside Liaquat Bagh at about 10:30 am. He said they recited passages from the Holy Quran, offered prayer, ate lunch before dispersing. He added that that workers also adopted a resolution urging the government to declare December 27 as a national holiday and build a memorial at the site in the park where Benazir was killed nine years ago.
Traffic jam
Owing to the large gathering of PPP workers, strict security arrangements were made around Liaquat Bagh with heavy contingents of police and security officials deployed. Due to security concerns, Liaquat Road was blocked for vehicular traffic causing a severe traffic gridlock in the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2016.
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